A/56/258 II. Expertise on minority issues to be made available to Governments at their request, including on conflict prevention and the resolution of disputes 2. In the preamble to the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, it is stated that the promotion and protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities contribute to the political and social stability of States in which they live. Moreover, the Secretary-General, in presenting his millennium report (A/54/2000), stressed the urgency of protecting minority rights and establishing more effective and long-term responses to conflict prevention. He said we must do more to prevent conflicts from happening at all. Most conflicts occur in poor countries, especially those that are badly governed or where power and wealth are very unfairly distributed between ethnic or religious groups. Therefore, the best way to prevent conflict is to promote political arrangements in which all groups are fairly represented, combined with human rights, minority rights and broad-based economic development. Subsequently, the General Assembly, in paragraph 25 of the United Nations Millennium Declaration (General Assembly resolution 55/2), resolved to strengthen the capacity of all countries to implement the principles and practices of democracy and respect for human rights, including minority rights. 3. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been developing a regional or subregional approach to supporting national efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights. Such an initiative has been designed to draw on the expertise and best practices of countries in comparable situations. Regional meetings organized in preparation for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held in Durban, South Africa, have also highlighted the special concerns regarding minority and non-discrimination issues which affect particular regions. The reports of these meetings underscore international concern about preventing ethnic conflict. The need for activities to protect the rights of persons belonging to specific minorities and communities, such as the Roma, Sinti and Traveller communities in Europe, has also been recognized. 2 4. Moreover, the Working Group on Minorities, at its most recent session in May 2001, proposed a regional approach to standard-setting for the protection of the rights of minorities and to institutional building for conflict prevention and resolution. Thus, it encouraged regional organizations to explore the possibility of establishing institutions and mandates to deal with minority issues, such as the Office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe. Additionally, the Working Group recommended that Governments consider providing the names of experts on minority issues in their country, with a view to facilitating their participation in regional and international meetings and in the provision of advisory services. III. Cooperation and coordination among United Nations programmes and agencies, including relevant regional organizations 5. Minority rights are receiving more attention from the United Nations and regional organizations. With a view to creating more coherent approaches to dealing with such rights, OHCHR has organized regional seminars with the participation of representatives of minorities, United Nations agencies and experts from other international and regional organizations. For example, the first regional seminar on multiculturalism in Africa, held in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, in May 2000, was convened in cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the second regional workshop on the matter was held in Kidal, Mali, in January 2001 with the support of the country office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Representatives of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights also took part in that meeting. Following on from such initiatives, the Working Group on Minorities and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights have called for support to improve and continue their cooperation, including by jointly studying the relationship between minorities and indigenous populations within the African region.